epor >> reporter: what are you going to do with it? >> >> buy food. >> reporter: buy food? >> pelley: steve hartman proves that he does "on the road". >> merry christmas! captioning sponsored by cbs pelley. this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. >> pelley: good evening. erspelley: good evening. when the supreme court alters ed icourse of the nation, names are etched in history. ralessy v. ferguson" endorsed inial segregation; "brown v. board of education" ended it in hat ation. today we learned that the next name to make civil rights history may be "hollingsworth v. willy." her court said it will hear the case which could decide whether same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry. the case centers on a ban on 20me-sex marriage that was passed by california voters in 2008. john blackstone has our lead from san francisco.

>> reporter: for five months in 2008, same-sex couples in california could marry legally. then voters passed proposition 8 banning same-sex marriage. when gay couples challenged prop 8, both the state supreme court and the federal ninth circuit court of appeals ruled that banning same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. many supporters of same-sex marriage were hoping the supreme court would not take this case. therese stewart is san francisco's deputy city attorney. in many ways, this is bad news for you. >> it's bad news in the sense that if we had-- if the court had denied review we would have seen marriages very quickly within a few days, again, not only in san francisco but all over california. >> reporter: opponents of same- sex marriage say the supreme court should uphold the will of california voters, defining marriage as only between a man and a woman. >> it's important to remember that still in the vast majority of states, four out of five states, the people have chose on the either vote themselves or

their elected representatives to stake with traditional marriage. >> reporter: for paul and jeff, the supreme court decision is personal. they launched the challenge to prop 8 seeking the right to marry. >> sometimes the court system needs to nudge us forward to be a better, more united america. >> reporter: the court could rule in a way that impacts same- sex marriage only in california and does not affect the rest of the country. >> movements are a mix of things and you have to kind of take the ups with the downs. >> reporter: the court will hear the marriage cases in march. a decision will probably come by the end of june. john blackstone, cbs news, san francisco. >> pelley: john, thank you. the court also said today it will hear a second case on same- sex marriage. that case is a challenge to the current law that denies married same-sex couples the same federal benefits as other married couples. we checked with the census bureau today and they told us there are just over 600,000 same-sex couple households in olerica today.

most states-- 38-- ban same-sex marriages. nine states and the district of ges.mbia allow them. s a cbs news poll last month, just over half of americans, 51%, told us they think same-sex marriage should be legal. it said it should not. exlot of economists were expecting a lousy jobs report today and boy were they surprised. the economy created 146,000 jobs in november. not great, but a lot better than expected. the unemployment rate dropped stlytenths of a point to 7.7%. that's not quite as good as it sounds because it was mostly people who gave up looking for work and were dropped from the count. what does all of this mean to the recovery? here's anthony mason. >> reporter: the u.s. economy ndntinued to add jobs in november, despite worries about a looming fiscal cliff in washington and the effects of a k perstorm in the northeast.

>> thank you very much. or reporter: at chobani, the greek yogurt maker based in new york, c.e.o. hamdi ulukaya has been hiring. how many employees do you have? >> close to 2,000. >> reporter: the turkish-born ulukaya started chobani just four years ago. since then, greek yogurt sales re g exploded. chobani is now nearly a billion- dollar business. >> think we're going to be over 5,000 to 6,000 people by five years. >> reporter: so another 3,000 or ll000. th yeah. >> reporter: nationally job f owth has been steady but slow. so far in 2012 the economy has added an average of 151,000 jobs a month. >> we are creating more jobs but the pace of that hasn't really thanged much in the last two years. >> reporter: this chief investment strategist with the the blackrock says the economy is caught in a circle. >> one reason the job market isn't better is consumers aren't spending and the reason consumers aren't spending is etcause the job market isn't

i wier. t reporter: but this month, chobani will open a new $450 ust ion plant in idaho. when you make that kind of investment, that must mean you onal good about the economy. >> i always did. i personally believe the next ure.years will be a completely different picture. >> reporter: you do? d i really do. i really do. un >> reporter: the so-called underemployment rate dropped ncludeonth to 14.4%. that includes those who have given up looking and those forced to settle for part-time work. overall 12 million people are unemployed. a pelley: anthony, thank you. there may soon be a lot of hiring in the northeast. president obama asked congress ssday for more than $60 billion today p states rebuild after superstorm sandy. in new york city, a jury deliberated more than a week in the trial of a bus driver accused of being so tired, he caused a crash that killed 15 of his passengers. today came the verdict: not guilty. and michelle miller tells us the driver is a free man tonight.

.> how do you find the >> hndant, guilty or not guilty? >> not guilty. t reporter: the bus driver wept veen he heard the verdict. ears ill williams could have faced 15 years in prison. hisas driving 32 people from a connecticut casino to new york's chinatown when his bus hit a guardrail, toppled, and was torn open by a signpost. williams claimed he'd been cut off by a tractor-trailer. investigators found no evidence of that. but they discovered williams averaged three hours of sleep in the days before the crash. they cited driver fatigue as the probable cause. florence wong's father don lee was killed in the crash. >> he had 15 lives that was under under his control and they're not here. he has to live with that with conscinscience. >> reporter: prosecutors called 55 witnesses but could not produce direct evidence that lack of sleep impaired williams' driving. iredr goelz is former director of the national transportation arfety board. >> i think a guilty verdict

would have sent a very strong eporage to these operators. disceporter: regulators shut dwn 26 discount bus companies for safety and driver violations last spring. >> it's a particular problem in the bus industry because oftentimes consumers have no way of checking whether that operator has got a good record or not, whether their drivers are following the rules or whether they're skirting the irtis. >> reporter: the bus company williams worked for was shut down. scott, williams was found guilty un driving without a proper witnse and ordered to pay a $500 fine. >> pelley: michelle, thank you. there was a black box data k porter on that bus, just like they have on planes. well, today a federal agency proposed putting data recorders in all vehicles, including cars s,ilt after 2014. in a crash, they would record speed and whether the brakes rash, sed. they would cost about $20 each.

the president of egypt can't seem to put the brakes on the crisests in the biggest crisis in egypt since the revolution tw two years ago. med ll started last month when mohamed morsi granted himself accaordinary powers. protesters accuse him of acting like a dictator and now he's trying to force through a new constitution. holly williams is in cairo. >> reporter: protesters marched on the presidential palace again epday in their tens of ial sands. "down with morsi" they chanted, "and down with the muslim brotherhood," the islamist group from which the president draws his support. in two weeks of political turmoil, what president morsi has succeeded in doing is hardening and uniting the opposition. his opponents are now rallying around their leaders, some of t pr want president morsi to khep down. khaled ali is a human rights

lawyer and anticorruption crusader. do you think president morsi believes in democracy? "morsi doesn't and his party iesn't, either," he told us. "they only believe in power." these protests began when president morsi gave himself near-absolute power. they grew and sparked violent tiashes when he called a referendum on a new constitution written by his conservative allies. yesterday, president morsi called for talks with the opposition, but offered little in the way of concessions. now some protesters like schoolteacher leila el-gueretly fear any chance of compromise has been lost. do you think there will be more bloodshed? >> if morsi did not back down. if he kept acting in the stubborn childish way, and avoiding the political way of hed.ing the situation,

definitely there will be more bloodshed. >> pelley: and holly williams is hoining us from cairo. holly, that lady told you that morsi's acting stubbornly and kinddishly. but is there some kind of cotttegy at work here? >> reporter: well, scott, y esident morsi actually maneuvered very cleverly to sideline the country's judges, give himself new powers, and then push through the new constitution. but he seems to have massively miscalculated the size of the readsition. pici people here were already deeply suspicious of the muslim brotherhood and its commitment le democracy. thos the last two weeks have done-- at least for the people you can see protesting behind me-- is confirm those pot haions. >> pelley: holly, thank you very much. hie second winner of the record powerball jackpot has claimed his share. the victim of a hoax involving the british royal family has died. and on the mississippi there's a tug-of-war over water. when the "cbs evening news" continues.

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you should not start humira if you have any kind of infection. ask your rheumatologist about humira, to help relieve pain and stop further joint damage before they stop you. it's called passion. and it's not letting up anytime soon. at unitedhealthcare insurance company, we understand that commitment. so does aarp, serving americans 50 and over for generations. so it's no surprise millions have chosen an aarp dicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement plans, it helps cover some of what medicare doesn't pay. to find out more, call today. >> pelley: we don't know why jacintha saldaha killed herself. no one who knows her has said. but we do know that the london nurse whose body was found this morning was the subject of a prank this week that involved the royal family. mark phillips picks up the story from there.

>> reporter: a nurse dead, her body found by police; a suspected suicide. the nurse who had worked a nurse dead, her body found by police. a suspected suicide. a nurse who had worked at the hospital where kate the duchess of came bridge was treated for morning sickness this week had put a call to the ward thinking the caller was the queen, but it was actually michael christian and mel greg, a pair of australian djs famous for hoaxes who placed the call and talked about it all week. >> they were the worst accent ever. >> this nurse was blind sided by the call. >> hello there. can i please speak to kate, please, my granddaughter. >> hold on. >> they were put through to the ward nurse who gave the caller an update. the royal family made no

complaint. the hospital apologized. the radio station apologized. prince charles, kate's father- in-law even joked about it. and step sod, while embarrassing seemed to be over until the nurse's body was found. the radio station has now taken the offending station off the air and offer condolences. >> reporter: police have said they can't call this a suicide until after an autopsy. the hospital in its statement said it had been supporting its employee through what it called this difficult time since the hoax. the australian radio station was saying it was the hoax the world was talking about. well, the world is talking about it again, scott, but as a tragedy. >> mark, thank you. 71 years ago today the united states suffered one of its greatest military defeats at pearl harbor. more than 2,400 people were

killed when japan bombed the u.s. naval base. the surprise attack forced the united states into world war ii. today, survivors returned to pearl harbor to remember. a severe draught is draining the mississippi. why it could also help drain your wallet. that's next. :.o of washington about the future of medicare and social security. anncr: but you deserve straight talk about the options on the... table and what they mean for you and your family.

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>> pelley: well, the weather may be colder, but drought is still a major problem. in the weather may be colder but draught is still a problem. 62% of the country is in draught. for more than 20% it is extreme or even worse. it has even brought the mighty mississippi to its knees. >> the coast guard is directing barges away from the mississippi. how often are you looking at that gauge to see how low this river is? >> i have a gauge app on my ipad and i look at it about

three times a day. >> the army core of engineers have tried to keep pace with the draught dredging shipping lanes 24 hours a day since june. >> is this a matter of things will get worse before things will get better? >> mother nature has the last say in that. when we talk about water available, tax cuts' the real issue. >> but barge operators say water from the mississippi river is needed upstream and is held by the dam. each december it stops the flow into the mississippi to conserve those water supplies for the upper midwest. >> what could be done? >> what the industry has asked congress and the president or some higher authority of the core of engineers to get extra water off the missouri basin today. >> otherwise, mark fletcher's 200 barn must carry less cargo or risk running aground. that means more trips request lighter loads costing them

100,000 dollars a week. >> so, the shippers are going to have to charge more which means they're going to have to pass that onto the consumer. >> 60% of america's grain exports are shipped on the mississippi. >> these barge aren't the only way but they are the cheapest way. >> stranded barges have already stopped river traffic for hours. the colonel says he is sympathetic but his job is to look beyond this winter. >> what we do know is these draughts are typically not one year events and we are in the beginning of the draught. >> so, mark fletcher and the bark industry are making plans, too, for lower water and the economic damage they worry is about to roll down this river. seth done, cbs muse. one arizona man just claimed his share of last week's $587 million power ball

jackpot. he's remaining anonymous but he lives in fountain hill arizona. he is in his 30s. he chose the lump sum payout of $192 million. there were two winning tickets. a missouri couple had the other. a miracle. steve hartman has more. ♪ [ male announcer ] everyone deserves the gift of all day pain relief. this season, discover aleve. all day pain relief with just two pills.

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san difficult steve hartman has more. >> janice had feeling of not wanting to celebrate christmas this year, plain because that was her house. >> i don't have anything left. >> she hated that they were even selling christmas trees in her neighborhood. tax cuts' just how down some people are here in staten island new york. >> i am secret santa. >> his real name i can't tell you. all i can tell you is he is a wealthy businessman in missouri who every year goes to the cities and town he thinks needs help most. he then gives away about $100,000 worth of one hundred dollar bills, all to random strangers he finds in thrift stores, laundromats and soup kitchens. >> what are you going to do with that? >> buy food. >> a lot of these people have

never eaven seen a $100 bill, let alone possess one, yet clearly the joy they feel goes a lot deeper than the dollar amount. >> don't lose hope because everything is going to be okay. >> carol lefty had five feet of water in her house. she could certainly use the money but says the kindness this represents matters more. >> this will note be spent. >> why not? >> i'm going to frame it and put it in my house. just wonderful people. >> hope. that's really what heddles out, and perhaps -- what he dulls out. no one needed it more then the woman he happened to stumble upon. >> we lost our house. >> he gave janice kennedy $300 and a brand new attitude. >> you're going to have a nice christmas. >> just changed everything. i thought yeah, i will get the tree. i got happy. i had a smile on my face the whole night. >> looks like christmas is back

on the calendar. steve har tman on the road in stall enisland. >> that's the cbs evening news for tonight. for all of us at cbs news all around the world, i'm scott pe lly. i'll see you sunday on 60 minutes. the contentious issue of marriage equality reaches te highest court in the c the supreme court agrees i am allen martin. >> i am dana king. the contentious issue of marriage equality reaches the highest court in the country. supreme court agrees to take on california's ban of same sex marriage along with the federal defensive marriage act that denies some benefits to legally married same sex couples. do gays have the same constitutional rights as hetero sexuals to get married. cbs 5's juliette goodrich

speaks to the couple at the head of this issue. >> she texted me omg granted. then she called me and we just started crying. we were on the phone for a few minutes. we couldn't talk. >> chris perry and sandy steer are cautiously optimistic they will get the legal recognition, benefits and protection of marriage. they say it's been a long time waiting. >> in real life it doesn't feel fast at all. we've been really patient and waited a long time to hear when the final leg of this race would be and now we know. >> just as hetero sexual marriages were taking place at city hall, city attorney dennis herrera and activist held a news conference nearby on a case that's now in the hands of the supreme court. >> so, we are gratified and look forward to making our argument before the united states supreme court about why proposition 8 needs to be struck down. >> but the protect marriage coalition is confident the supreme court will uphold the right of the people of californ